We have much to thank Darwin for. What a wonderful source of stories ... good ones, bad ones, true ones, false ones, naughty ones and some very funny ones. I hope you enjoy reading them all!

" We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged." - Dissent from Darwin

Natural selection [is used] carelessly as a mantra, as in the evidence-free “just-so stories” concocted out of thin air by mentally lazy adaptationists. (Stephen Jay Gould)

In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence. (Isaac newton)

Monday, January 19, 2009

How NEANDERTHAL got his big nose

LONDON: Anthropologists have suggested that Neanderthals had big noses because of the degree to which their face used to jut forward, indicating that the odd feature was a fluke of evolution, not some grand adaptation. The Neanderthal nose has been a matter of befuddlement for anthropologists, who point out that modern cold-adapted humans have narrow noses to moisten and warm air as it enters the lung, and reduce water and heat loss during exhalation. Big noses tend to be found in people whose ancestors evolved in tropical climates, where a large nasal opening helps cool the body. But Neanderthals go against this trend, according to Tim Weaver, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of California, Davis. "They were living in the glacial environment of Europe, colder than it is today, for most of the time," he said. "So, it's sort of been an anomaly. Why do they have these wide nasal apertures?," he wondered.

Light In Evolution

About Me

Dear Visitor , my blog is neither for nor against any particular theory of evolution. It is rather a light-hearted look at how scientists try to fit the puzzles of nature into the prevailing neo-darwinism paradigm.

Read all the stories and make up your own mind!

Love Dolly.

P.S. Oh, and if you really must know which story I believe, read the last word :)

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Ambam the walking Gorilla

Bipedal of the week

We love a good story!

Definition: just-so story

A "just-so story" is known as the "ad hoc fallacy." The Latin means "for this," and it applies to any "pourquoi" explanation of things, given for the express purpose of supporting an otherwise unprovable hypothesis.
Just So - David Warren

Athiest Bus Campaign

Fishy Tales

The Balony Detector

Nature's Story Retreat

“Phylogeny based on similarity of form is fundamentally unsound because of the adaptation and convergent evolution witnessed in nature.” Nature, 1 May 2008

"Proof" of Darwin's Evolution

Phylogeny based on similarity of form!

Featured Quote

"It is amazing how a process of Darwinian evolution by tinkering and improvement has generated, from a collection of sensory proteins in yeast, the complex synapse of mammals associated with learning and cognition."Dr Richard Emes, a lecturer in bioinformatics at Keele University

Meaning

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.C. S. Lewis

Information

“Information is information, neither energy nor matter.Any materialism that fails to take account of this will not survive one day.”Norbert Weiner, MIT Mathematician and Founder of Cybernetics

Education

Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.C. S. Lewis

How SCIENCE woke up

Future Shock?

Natural-Born Liars

"The Homo sapiens who are best able to lie have an edge over their counterparts in a relentless struggle for the reproductive success that drives the engine of evolution" Scientific American (David Livingstone Smith)

How do we select stories?

We try to only feature interesting stories where the scientist has had to use his considerable imagination to "fill in the gaps" (e.g. See how the Whale learnt to swim by Charles Darwin). Our position is not that the scientist is wrong (although he certainly may be), but that his story is just one of many "just so" stories that attempt to explain the universe. When one looks at all the stories on this site together, one has the uneasy feeling that in most cases, scientists are following the dominating scientific paradigm of the day with which to explain nature's mysteries. In most cases, these stories fall far short of being satisfying explanations to "all things bright and beautiful".

And if you really must know what I believe. Check the last word!

Pinocchio awards

The Other "Darwin Awards"
We are on a quest to find the most entertaining Darwinian just so story of the year. Please send your just-so story nominations, submissions and votes to me at dollysheriff@gmail.com.

Featured Story

How Life began
“….all these problems are worrisome, but they do not completely rule out the possibility that RNA was initially synthesized and replicated by relatively uncomplicated processes."
Leslie E. Orgel, Research professor at the Salk Institute

Wicked Unbelievers!

It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in these stories*, that person is ignorant, stupid, or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that).

-- Oxford scientist and author Richard Dawkins

*paraphrased

The fine art of Bluffing

The Paley Watch Company

Can watch parts be placed in a box, shaken vigorously, and result in a fully assembled watch? The Paley Watch Company in Eugene, Oregon says yes! They are applying natural selection in a controlled environment to assemble their watches thereby reducing required personnel. The savings are passed to the customer.

Cows have tails - A poem

Cows have tails
to chase away the flies
peacocks have them
to attract the peahens eyes
monkeys too, to swing from tree to tree
But dogs have tails
just for making known
their glee!

The last WORD - The TRUTH and the old, old story

The Biggest collection of JUST SO STORIES on the internet

The Watchmaker

Creation

The earth took shape and ruptured, heaved
While sun-filled energies burst and roared
Something created, formed, achieved
Broke from high heavens palace and soared
Through all space and time, through eternity
Pure love for life and all mankind
Expressed by someone who expressed the plea
That man should love with soul an’ mind
His creator, master, Lord of life
Who set out the beasts and flock of air
And made man keeper when fullness was rife
To be the Protector of natures lair
But man has all this goodness spent
And from natures bosom all life is rent